Dates
by Gaarin
Summary: AU. SteveTony, PeggyPepper. Steve is an artist who's dating Peggy. Tony is a billionaire who's dating Pepper. When Tony hires Steve, a friendship quickly forms between the two, and they begin to question if they're in relationships with the right people.


((Basically what it says in the summary! In this fic, there will be Steve/Peggy and Tony/Pepper for a while, and then eventually Steve/Tony and Pepper/Peggy. In addition, it should be noted that Steve has none of his powers, as the fic is a modern AU set in New York. Tony is pretty much the same old Tony, except he didn't go to Afghanistan and he didn't build the Iron Man suit. Also, the Modern is an extremely expensive restaurant located in the Museum of Modern Art in New York. I hope you guys enjoy!))

* * *

"Should I wear pink or red lipstick with this dress, d'you think?"

Steve turned to his girlfriend with a look of complete blankness on his face. "How would I know?"

"You're the artist, aren't you supposed to know these things?" Peggy teased, finally settling on dark red and pressing her lips together to spread the color around.

"I don't paint with make-up," Steve retaliated.

Peggy smiled in his direction, and then began to apply liquid mascara, her mouth slightly open. Steve moved past her into the bedroom of their apartment, brushing against her with a hand as he passed. He made his way to the closet, and picked out a white dress shirt, and black pants, and a light blue tie. He slid out of his jeans, and then put on the pants slowly, trying not to wrinkle or crease them.

"What are you wearing, love?" Peggy's voice called.

"Just a second." Steve pulled on the shirt, and threw the tie over his shoulder, walking out of the closet. "Is this all right?"

"Oh, that's perfect." She kissed him on the cheek as she walked into the closet, and called behind her, "Blue and red are supposed to be complimentary or something, right?"

"Blue and orange, red and green," Steve murmured softly so Peggy wouldn't hear him, and then went to the bathroom to wipe the fresh lipstick off his cheek.

"I'm so excited about this dinner," Peggy announced for probably the hundredth time.

Steve smiled and nodded. He was lucky to even get to go to dinner at the Modern, because the restaurant was ridiculously expensive. Thankfully, it was all free, courtesy of a potential investor who had taken a personal interest in his work. Steve had never met Mr. Stark in person, but a week ago he'd gotten an email from his secretary, Pepper Potts. Apparently the head of Stark Industries had been looking for designers for his new building, and had found Steve's website. The fact that Steve was almost exclusively a freelance artist who mostly sketched people didn't stop the man, since apparently he really liked Steve's work. That alone had been an enormous compliment, but now he was offering to give Steve the biggest job of his career so far, and to discuss the logistics they were going to meet at a restaurant where meals cost hundreds of dollars. Steve hadn't believed it all either at first, but when he had travelled to Stark Industries itself, Miss Potts had confirmed the news to him face-to-face, and now he was going to meet with Mr. Stark and his secretary on a sort of professional double-date.

Peggy walked out into the room wearing a low red dress that looked stunning on her, and Steve grinned. "Stark is gonna want to give you the deal instead of me, gorgeous," he said, putting an arm around her waist and going in for a kiss.

"No, no, no! You're going to smudge my make-up!" Peggy cried, turning away and laughing.

"So, I'm not allowed to kiss you but you're allowed to kiss me?" Steve asked, pretending to be offended. "That doesn't sound fair."

Peggy winked at him cheekily, and then said, "Fix your tie, we're going."

Steve rolled his eyes, and then tied his tie, following Peggy out the door.

* * *

There was a huge crowd milling about outside the doors to the restaurant. Several were complaining about how they weren't able to get in, and how the line-up was two hours long. Holding Peggy's hand, Steve politely made his way to the front of the crowd, and stepped up right in front of the doorman.

"Hi, I have a dinner reservation with a... Mr. Stark?"

The attendant gave Steve a look as though surveying him, and replied without checking his list, "Oh, you must be Mr. Rogers and Mrs. Carter."

Steve nodded, and said, "Could we come in, please?"

The man seemed to find Steve's manner of speaking amusing for some reason, and replied after a moment of silence: "...Sure."

He led them to a table on the second-floor balcony. There were two people sitting at the table already, a man with short messy black hair and a beard, and a woman with strawberry-blonde hair pulled back into a neat ponytail, who Steve identified as Pepper.

Uncertainly, Steve walked up to the table, and put on his most award-winning smile. "Hi, Miss Potts, Mr. Stark, I'm Steve Rogers. I'm honored to meet you."

The man stood up, and stared for a moment. Steve suddenly felt terrified and self-conscious and awkward and out of place, but thankfully the man smiled, and replied, "Hello, Mr. Rogers. I'm a huge fan of your work."

Steve's heart did a tiny back-flip, and he tried to keep the massive grin on his face under wraps. "You don't know what it means to me to hear that, sir." Steve suddenly remembered his date, and turned to Peggy, still grinning. "And this is my girlfriend, Pe—"

He was cut off by Peggy saying in an odd voice, "_Virginia_?"

Steve looked from Peggy to Pepper, and saw that the secretary looked surprised and pleased. "_Peggy_?"

"Oh my god, Virginia, it's you! I haven't seen you in years!" Peggy exclaimed.

Pepper made her way around the table, and pulled Peggy into a tight hug, smiling. "I know! It's been ages!"

Both women turned to Steve and said excitedly, "You didn't tell me she was going to be here, Steve!"

"Uh, I, uh, didn't know you two knew each other," Steve replied awkwardly.

"I knew Peggy in high school," Pepper replied. "Oh my god, I can't even believe this!"

Peggy giggled, and replied, "I know!"

Sitting back down, Pepper motioned to the seat beside her. "Well, come on, sit beside me, Peg." Peggy did so immediately.

Steve bit his lip slightly, and then sat down beside his investor, every fiber of his being fully aware of how unprofessional the seating arrangement was. But there wasn't really much he could do about it, so he smiled and offered his hand. "Mr. Stark," he cordially greeted the billionaire.

"Please, call me Tony," Tony said, taking Steve's hand and shaking it firmly. Steve glanced at Peggy, who was talking excitedly to Pepper about her job or something. "I'm really happy we're making this deal, Mr. Rogers."

Steve's heart performed another back-flip. "It's Steve, sir, and the pleasure is all mine. To be honest, I can't even believe I'm sitting at this table right now."

Tony smiled, and then raised two fingers, calling to the waiter, "Could I get some drinks over here, please?" The man hustled over, and spoke with a thick Brooklyn accent, "What can I get you, Mr. Stark?"

"Uhhh..." Tony paused. "Hey Pepper, what _aren't_ I allowed to order?"

"He'll have the house specialty," Pepper told the waiter without turning to Tony.

Steve observed this odd display with some amusement, but didn't let it show. As the waiter poured Steve a glass of fancy wine, Steve smiled, and said, "Thank you," leaning back so that the waiter could fill Tony's glass.

"So, let's talk business, Steve. You're an independent artist, right?"

Steve nodded.

"And you mostly sketch, correct? Except for the paintings, which you also happen to do flawlessly?"

Bashfully, Steve replied, "I wouldn't call them flawless, but... yeah. I mostly sketch caricatures."

"Oh, cool," Tony grinned. "Maybe you could do one of me sometime."

Steve shrugged casually, and said, "I'd like that." Privately he thought he wouldn't be able to capture the man's features adequately, and no drawing would be able to do him justice.

Tony downed half his wine in one gulp, and then placed the glass back on the table. "So Pepper told you about what you'd be doing, right? For the job? I need someone to help redesign my main building. That would mean drawing floor plans and designing cool rooms and things. I might also buy a couple paintings off you to put up."

"Yes, Pepper told me through email," Steve replied. "I don't know if I'm the best guy for the job, to be honest, but I'll do my best."

A wide smile graced Tony's features. "That is exactly the answer I wanted. You're hired, Steve."

Steve actually stopped breathing. "Wait... what? _Really_?"

"Yes, _really_," Tony mimicked him, smiling. "Of course."

"But I..." Steve mentally punched himself in the mouth before he could finish his sentence (but I thought we were here to discuss it over dinner and the food hasn't even arrived yet) and instead said, "Thank you."

Tony smiled, and said, "You're welcome. Okay, now, let's order something. What do you want? Girls, you better decide too."

Pepper and Peggy stopped reminiscing, and simultaneously grabbed menus. After about a minute, Pepper offered, "Do you want to split the salmon platter?" and Peggy grinned and replied, "I'd love to!"

Steve looked down at his own menu, and tried to find the least expensive item. Tony noticed him looking more at the prices than the food, and leaned over his shoulder, whispering in a low voice in his ear, "Get whatever you want, Steve, it's on me." When Steve turned to look, the man was back in his seat, reading his own menu innocently.

"Uh, Tony, could I get th-"

"Again, I'm not your mom, Steve, get whatever you want. Unless it's cantaloupe, because Pepper is deathly allergic."

"Strawberries," Pepper deadpanned. "And I'm not so allergic that it would affect me if Steve ate it, Tony."

"Right, yeah, strawberries, whatever."

In the end, Steve decided to order a chicken and brie sandwich with figs and lettuce on flatbread, that came with the most expensive sweet potato fries he had ever ordered. He felt bad about not ordering something classier, because Tony ordered some dish Steve couldn't even pronounce, until the food arrived and he found out that it was basically a glorified cheeseburger.

The meal was delicious, and the conversation went well. Steve and Tony talked about common interests, found out they had none, and then talked about themselves and their work. Pepper and Peggy talked about old memories, and newer ones. At one point, Pepper explained to Peggy that while she went by Pepper now, it was still fine to call her Virginia. Tony impertinently asked if _he_ was allowed to call her Virginia, putting an extra emphasis on the first two syllables, and Pepper made a face at him. Steve laughed, and Tony laughed along good-naturedly.

It happened out of the middle of nowhere. Steve's eyes drifted across the table to look at Peggy, and observed how happy she looked. He then looked back to Tony, and stared into his eyes for a couple seconds, before the sudden, startling realization hit him that somehow he had befriended Tony Stark, the world-renowned billionaire. It didn't even seem unnatural to be talking to Tony, even though he made far more in a day than Steve had made in the past month. Even though Tony was ridiculously wealthy, and he was just about to offer Steve the deal of his life, he was easy to get along with, and Steve didn't feel out of place at all.

* * *

Tony took a drink of his wine, and wondered what it was. His second, third glass? He had certainly planned on drinking more by this point in the evening, but then again, he hadn't planned on things going so well either.

Tony silently watched Steve look at his girlfriend, and then turn to him. He slowly breathed in and out as he stared back into Steve's eyes.

Eventually he decided to ruin the moment because it would have been awkward if Pepper had looked over and misinterpreted the moment as eyesex or something. "Hello? Earth to Rogers?"

Steve actually shook his head slightly, and then smiled disarmingly at Tony, who smiled back, because Steve had _totally _just been checking him out.

"I was just... spacing out a little."

Tony nodded. "Right."

Steve hesitated, and then blurted out, "I have a question, actually, but you might think it's a little rude."

Tony smiled, and then said, "No, no, fire away. I've had enough drinks that I can promise you nothing you can say will offend me."

The artist bit down on his lip slightly before asking timidly, "Uh... why is your chest glowing?"

Tony looked down, and feigned surprise, as if just noticing it for the first time. "Oh, hey, that's new."

"Stop it, Tony," Pepper interjected. Both men turned to her, and she shook her head at him, glaring. "Not funny."

Tony made a face, and said in a low voice, "I thought it was hilarious." Pepper's glare intensified, and Tony continued, "It's my heart, actually."

Steve blinked a couple times. "What?"

"Well, the doctors found out I was having heart failure a couple years ago, and they offered to perform heart surgery on me and stuff, but I came up with a much cooler idea. This," he tapped on the glass frame, "reactor is what keeps my heart beating. I made the prototype myself. The glowing is kind of an embarrassing side effect."

"That's not embarrassing," Steve replied, looking stunned. "It's incredible."

Steve's date cut in with her soft British voice. "Maybe Steve could draw you and the reactor sometime, Mr. Stark."

Steve looked over at Peggy and then back to Tony. "I would love to."

Tony couldn't imagine why Steve would want to draw him, and wondered if this was some kinky artistic thing, and if he was about to star in a re-do of Titanic or something. But he didn't want to shoot down the idea by any means, because the idea of Steve drawing him was cool, and so he grinned. "Sounds like a plan."

"Excuse me, sir," the waiter cut in, "I have a call for you."

Tony went instantly into business mode and said, "I'll take it. Excuse me, everyone, be right back." He winked saucily at Pepper, and got a half-smile back, which he counted as a win. Tony slid out of the booth, and then went to take the call.

* * *

As soon as Tony was gone, Peggy leaned in and reached her hand across the table. "_Steve_!" she squeaked. "This is _great_! He really likes you!"

Steve looked back at the retreating figure of Tony and smiled, sliding his hand into Peggy's. "You think?"

"For sure," Pepper replied, drawing the couple's attention to her. "He doesn't take to everybody right away, so it's a good thing he likes you and your work." Pepper took out her Blackberry and typed a message so fast that it looked like she was just smashing random keys. She pressed send and then pocketed it, smiling. "Peggy and I have been talking business, Mr. Rogers."

Peggy squeezed Steve's hand reassuringly and he asked, "Business like what?"

"When you would come over to meet with Tony, your expected pay, et-cetera, et-cetera."

Trying not to sound too eager, Steve asked, "What will my expected pay... be?"

Peggy grinned and told him, and Steve dropped his fork onto the plate and his jaw alongside it.

"_Really_?"

"Oh, come on, Steve, be professional," Peggy chided. "Yes, really, Virginia and I decided that was fair for the amount of work you'll be doing."

_I'll have to work my ass off_, Steve thought to himself, but he smiled brightly. "Thank you so much, Mrs. Potts. I'm looking forward to the opportunity."

"I'm looking forward to it too," a voice said from beside him as Tony slid back into his seat. "I hope you haven't been intidimating my artist too much, Pepper."

Business as usual, Pepper replied calmly, "What was that phone call about, Tony?"

Tony bit his lip slightly and looked like an apologetic puppy who had done something slightly wrong. "Uh... Steinberg with the parts I need to rebuild that one Chevy."

Pepper rolled her eyes. "Not the parts you _need_, then. The parts you _want_."

"I've been working on this for months and I _need_ a new carburetor, Pepper."

"It's a want, Tony." The secretary turned to Steve and Peggy, and explained with a small smile, "He's trying to rebuild some scrappy old car."

"It's a 1967 Chevrolet Impala," Tony said, looking offended. "Not some 'scrappy old car'." He turned to Steve, and explained, "The new Impala is an insult to all car-kind, and I am determined to right that wrong. I'm not really changing it much, but I'll, you know, make it Stark-ish and whatever."

Steve smiled, and said, "Do you work with a lot of cars?"

"Oh, yeah. I mean it's not for work or anything. It's just a hobby."

Across the table, Pepper commented dryly to Peggy, "I'm sure Steve has his share of costly unnecessary hobbies too, Peggy."

Peggy laughed, her high-pitched giggle reverberating around the table. "Oh, well, I can't even take him near any shops for art supplies."

Steve retaliated, "But the art supplies _are_ for work." His comment went unnoticed as Pepper responded to Peggy and Peggy giggled once more, answering the other woman.

Tony clapped Steve on the shoulder and said consolingly, "It's all right. They'll never understand us."

Steve chuckled and admitted, "That may be so."

Pepper checked her watch and said, "Um, it's getting sort of late. Did anyone want any dessert?"

Shaking his head, Steve apologized and said he was full. Tony ordered some cheesecake, and Peggy asked for some crazy chocolate confection, saying she'd get it as long as Virginia would share it with her.

The dessert arrived pretty quickly, and once Tony finished his cheesecake, he suggested, "Did you want to go for a walk around the balcony or something?"

Steve took a second to realize Tony was talking to him, and then beamed and answered, "Yeah, sure."

They stood up simultaneously, and walked to the balcony, Steve wincing slightly as the fresh, cold night air hit him.

"It's beautiful here," Steve began. "Gorgeous. I don't usually come to the MoMa, but when I do..." He made a low whistling noise of appreciation.

Tony smiled, and then said, "Don't suppose the art would have anything to do with that?"

"Well..." Steve chuckled self-consciously, and then exhaled, leaning on the balcony. "I'd love to have something put up in the gallery here one day, but it's never going to happen."

"Why not?" Tony asked, leaning on the bar beside him. "It's called the Museum of Modern Art for a reason, I'm sure they'd love to put your art up. What's more modern than caricatures?"

Steve laughed. "Yeah, I guess. I just... I don't know. I don't feel like my work should be hung in galleries, I feel like I need to draw things that people can see, that'll inspire them. I think having one person feel better because of something I drew is better than having my work up in a gallery."

After Tony didn't reply for a couple seconds, he turned, and found the other man staring at him.

"I, uh, I mean, not that having it up in a gallery wouldn't be nice too," Steve quickly amended, wondering if he'd insulted Tony in some way.

"No, it's just, uh." Tony paused for a second and then replied, "That's really... great. I like that style of thinking. A lot."

Steve grinned, and shrugged. "Thanks."

There was a few moments of comfortable silence, and then a cool breeze ran over the balcony. Steve shivered slightly, and then said for about the tenth time, "Mr... uh, Tony, thank you for letting me work on this project."

"Well, thanks for agreeing to do it," Tony replied. "I know it's a little weird that I even asked you to do this, 'cause you mostly do caricatures. But I've seen your work and your paintings, and you have amazing potential. I think your brand of innovation is exactly what Stark Industries needs."

Steve tried not to blush, and laughed lightly, scratching the back of his neck. "I hope I can deliver."

"I'm sure you can," Tony answered in a strange voice. Steve turned to look at him, and observed that the billionaire was leaning over the railing, staring up at the stars. He didn't look like he was paying attention to Steve at all anymore, and was instead spacing out.

"Hello?" Steve called, mimicking Tony from earlier. "Earth to Stark?"

Tony turned to face him, and seemed to suddenly realize he was outside, shivering. "Sorry, let's, uh, let's go inside, it's cold." He moved past Steve quickly, and Steve followed, wondering idly what Tony had been thinking about.

* * *

Inside, Pepper was paying for dinner, signing her name neatly on the receipt. She tried to keep the small slip of paper out of sight from Peggy, but the British woman caught a glimpse of the total, and let out a little shriek.

"Virginia, you've got to let me chip in, that's _insane_—"

Pepper cut her off, and said, "Don't worry, Tony's paying anyway." She winked at her friend, and then took her card out of the machine, handing it back to the waiter with a smile. "Thank you."

"Have a wonderful evening," the waiter replied, walking away from the table.

Pepper stood up, and grabbed her coat. "Listen, Peg, you've got to come over for drinks or something sometime. I'm not letting you leave again for years."

"I'd love to!" Peggy replied with delight. "I would absolutely love to. It would be so lovely to catch up."

"Haven't you two spent the whole evening catching up?" a voice asked from behind Peggy.

Peggy turned around and recognized Tony, blushing slightly. "Yes, but we haven't been able to _really_ catch up."

Pepper deemed it appropriate to distract Tony before he gleaned any unnecessary meaning from that statement. "Tony," Pepper called, "I paid, so we're ready to leave whenever you are."

Steve walked in from the balcony, and took Peggy's hand in his. "Thank you so much," he addressed Tony and Pepper. "I had a great night, and I look forward to working with you further, Mr. Stark."

Tony grumbled something about "how many times do I have to tell you to call me Tony" but he was grinning widely. "Thank you, same to you. And I hope my secretary didn't bore you too much, Ms. Carter."

Peggy giggled and replied, "No, I had a lot of fun, thank you."

Everyone wished each other good night, and then headed their separate ways. Pepper slid her arm into the crook of Tony's elbow, as they made their way to the car where Happy was waiting.

"That was nice, Tony. It was nice to see Peggy again."

"So I gathered," Tony remarked. "You two talked for hours straight."

Pepper shrugged, and said, "So did you." She stepped forward past Tony, and then turned to kiss him quickly and chastely on the lips. "I'm happy you liked Steve."

Tony raised his eyebrows and said, "Yeah, he's a pretty swell guy, Pep. I think he's perfect to redesign Stark."

Pepper smiled as she slowly threw her arms over Tony's shoulders and curled them around his neck, kissing him once more. "I hope he can get the job done, it would be disappointing if he was actually terrible at interior design."

Tony stopped in-between a kiss, and said, "Okay, wait. Are we kissing or discussing business? I've told you, I can't do both."

Pepper leaned in and whispered into Tony's ear, "I think we can take care of your business later. Right now I'd like to take care of your _business._"

Tony got a huge smile on his face, and then Happy ruined the moment by honking loudly.

"Yeah, yeah, coming," he yelled to the chauffeur. To Pepper, Tony murmured, "I hope he speeds on the way home."

Pepper grinned and said, "I'll make sure he does."

The couple pretty much ran to the car, both holding hands and smiling like stupid teenagers in love.

* * *

Steve pressed his lips to Peggy's once more, and then the woman moved up on the bed, towards the pillows. She reached out and grabbed Steve's shirt, taking large fistfuls of fabric and pulling the artist down to her mouth for another kiss.

"I'm horny," she announced, whispering into his mouth. "I'm— _mmph_— horny and it's your job to fix that, isn't it?"

Steve moaned a few times. He wouldn't admit it, but he actually loved it when Peggy took control. For all her ineffable sweetness with anyone else, Peggy was a fucking drill sergeant in the bedroom. It wasn't like she topped or anything, but if she wanted something, she would get it.

"I am bloody fucking horny and I sure as hell don't see any other contenders," she gasped out as Steve kissed down her neck. "Steve darling, if you don't fuck me post-haste, I swear to God I'll_aaaaaaaahhh_." Her eyes rolled back in her head, and her head fell back on the pillow, tossing and turning.

Steve looked up from his position, and smiled cheekily. "Am I doing okay, Pegs?"

"Less talking, more of whatever you just did."

* * *

They didn't end up having sex.

They ended up sweating and heated after hours of screaming, sure, but their bodies didn't once make contact.

Instead, they spent the night fighting, screaming at each other. False threats and countless accusations flew back and forth between the two as they fought.

"And what are you gonna do with it? Rebuild another fucking car?"

"The things that I build _help_ people, Pepper, I need this grant—"

"You don't care about anyone but yourself! I'm leaving! I'm leaving and I am never coming back!"

"Fine! Get out! I don't care!"

"I'm serious, Tony! You'll never see me again!"

"I am one fucking hundred percent okay with that, Pepper! You don't even know how okay I am with that!"

"How can you say that to me, Tony? I'm your girlfriend! I'm your CEO, this place would fall apart without me!"

"I would prefer bankruptcy to having to be here right now!"

And eventually, Pepper screamed louder than Tony thought was possible, and she stormed out of the building, slamming the door behind her and speeding away in Tony's Maserati.

Tony slumped to the ground, and sat still for a very, very long time.

Then he stood up, and went to find a bottle of scotch.

* * *

((To be continued! This will be going up on AO3 too. Oh, also, I couldn't find any betas, so it's unedited. Whooops. Reviews are very much appreciated!))


End file.
